Indiana convenience store sells winning $163M Powerball ticket

Jan 20, 2009, 8:54 am (17 comments)

Powerball

LAWRENCEBURG, Indiana — The Southeast Indiana community of Lawrenceburg is buzzing with news that a convenience store there sold the one winning Powerball ticket in Saturday's drawing.

The winning ticket is worth $163 million, just under $100 million if the winner takes a lump sum payment. The identity of the winner remains a mystery.

Lawrenceburg is about 20 miles west of Cincinnati.

With no winner yet to step forward, the clerks at the Circle K convenience store and gas station that sold the winning ticket are wondering which of their customers hit the jackpot.

Store manager Mary Cummings thought they may have found the winner this morning.

"He said, 'Where do you claim them?' I said Indianapolis," Cummings recalled.

And when a second clerk pressed the customer if he was the winner?

"He just grins real big and turns around and walks out," Cummings smiled.

The town of fewer than 5000 people is best known as the home to the Argosy Casino. Clouds of steam from nearby power plants dominate Lawrenceburg's skyline. Locals hope for a local winner.

"I'd like to see the money stay here in town for sure," said Steve Doyle of Lawrenceburg, "They could donate to schools or churches."

The WHAS11 crew was the sixth TV crew to stop by the Circle K Monday. Despite the attention and the buzz, many lottery customers did not realize that their store had sold the winning ticket.

"I had no idea," Duane Spence of Cincinnati said, "I just wanted to check my numbers. I picked them up the other day and I knew it was a large jackpot."

While the clerks and regular customers hope someone from the Lawrenceburg area hit the jackpot, they say it is just as likely that the winner is one of the tens of thousands of Argosy Casino patrons who pass by the store on the way to and from the riverboat.

One of them is Michael Makeba of Columbus, Ohio who stopped at the store on Monday on his way to the casino, and spent his entire time there kicking himself for not following through on a promise he made on Saturday to buy Powerball tickets.

"I was supposed to come down here and pick up tickets for the lottery for my mother-in-law and instead we took the money and went to the casino on Saturday," Makeba lamented. He told WHAS11's Joe Arnold that his mother-in-law had a "feeling" about the Powerball purchase.

"I'm dying inside," he continued.

For the second jackpot in a row, the winning Powerball ticket was sold in Indiana. This one is worth $163 million.

Monique Schick cashed $3 today from her $10 Powerball ticket purchase, but laughed off the loss, "You know what? The stock market ain't much better, is it?"

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are estimated at 195 million to one.

But when your convenience store sells the winning ticket, it suddenly doesn't seem quite as impossible.

The latest Kentucky Lottery sales figures show that as the recession hit last year — lottery sales jumped 4 and a half percent.

But sales of Hoosier Lottery scratch-offs were down 1.7% in the last quarter of 2008, which they attribute to less discretionary spending.

Hoosier Lottery and Indiana Powerball sales are also down, but the Lottery says those sales are more jackpot driven. With 36 jackpots since 1992, Indiana has sold more winning Powerball tickets than any other state, but the Indiana Council on Problem Gambling says that does not lead to more gambling addiction.

They say 11% of help line calls concern the lottery, while 70% percent are casino related.

"If they want to spend their last dollar on Powerball, so be it," Cummings said, "that's their choice."

A methadone clinic is next door to the convenience store and the casino is only about one mile away.

The Hoosier Lottery offices were closed Monday for the MLK holiday, so no one could come forward even if they wanted to. The winner has 180 days to claim the Powerball jackpot, or the money goes back to the participating states.

WHAS11

Comments

RJOh's avatarRJOh

"I'd like to see the money stay here in town for sure," said Steve Doyle of Lawrenceburg, "They could donate to schools or churches."

At least one person has an idea about how to spend the winnings, now all he has to do is buy a ticket and win.

dpoly1's avatardpoly1

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on Jan 20, 2009

"I'd like to see the money stay here in town for sure," said Steve Doyle of Lawrenceburg, "They could donate to schools or churches."

At least one person has an idea about how to spend the winnings, now all he has to do is buy a ticket and win.

The person or persons that won have the right to spend the money wherever they want.

I am more than a little tired of people assuming that they have have the right to tell people who have a lot of money what to do with their money!

If I ever win, the money will be spent wherever is choose to spend it!  That will most likely not be where I currently live.

Best wishes to the winner/winners, do what you want to do with the money. It is yours!!!!!!!!!!!!

OldSchoolPa's avatarOldSchoolPa

Quote: Originally posted by dpoly1 on Jan 20, 2009

The person or persons that won have the right to spend the money wherever they want.

I am more than a little tired of people assuming that they have have the right to tell people who have a lot of money what to do with their money!

If I ever win, the money will be spent wherever is choose to spend it!  That will most likely not be where I currently live.

Best wishes to the winner/winners, do what you want to do with the money. It is yours!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Agree!

OldSchoolPa's avatarOldSchoolPa

Kind of reminds me of someone on MSN saying that the country should not be spending multi-millions for today's inauguration, that that money could be better spent elsewhere.  Hmmm, let's see...America has always held inaugurations regardless of the prevailing conditions so why should today be any different?  Besides, anytime you have a changing of the guard, all organizations find that they are well served by having some type of formal transition ceremony.  But hey I am probably speaking to the choir as that numchuck probably isn't even on this forum.  Now to the topic at hand...

Furthermore, why should someone feel obligated to donate to schools and churches...schools that try to force feed different alternative lifestyle beliefs and theory of evolution beliefs down our throats (that kind of sounds like a theme for a porno), and churches many of whom lambast their followers for playing the lottery, equating it to gambling.  Hell, life is a gamble and last I checked, people in the old testament did cast lots (derivation from which the lottery comes from).  Now I am not interested in any theologians trying to take me to task to tell me why THEY think playing the lottery is sin...you're wasting your time and breath because nothing you say will make me change my decision TO KEEP playing the lottery.

Now I would spend some of those millions...the interest that is...traveling the world, flying first class, living first class, and being an anonymous good saint.  Can't tell all the ways I would spend the $$$ because I know many of you would disapprove...but hey then again I wouldn't care what you wrote in response because I think I would be so busy living and enjoying my jackpot milliionaire life that my account here would start to collect dust and cobwebs...with the indicator saying that I am offline.  But I didn't win, but I always make sure I have a chance to win...and that is all you can ask and hope for.  Like I believe...

Texas Joey's avatarTexas Joey

I sure wish Lottery Post had a Pool to join.  Playing the Power Ball and Mega Games. Think of the fun we could have on line. 

Good Morning! (wave)

 I would join Platnium in a minute!!

Joey





GamerMom's avatarGamerMom

"I was supposed to come down here and pick up tickets for the lottery for my mother-in-law and instead we took the money and went to the casino on Saturday," Makeba lamented. He told WHAS11's Joe Arnold that his mother-in-law had a "feeling" about the Powerball purchase.

"I'm dying inside," he continued

 

Not sure why he's kicking himself, obviously he wouldn't have been the winner...

time*treat's avatartime*treat

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on Jan 20, 2009

"I'd like to see the money stay here in town for sure," said Steve Doyle of Lawrenceburg, "They could donate to schools or churches."

At least one person has an idea about how to spend the winnings, now all he has to do is buy a ticket and win.

Nah. Those kinds have wonderous ways to save the world ... but it always involves spending someone elses money, never their own. Got a few of 'em around here.

DelmarvaChick's avatarDelmarvaChick

Quote: Originally posted by GamerMom on Jan 20, 2009

"I was supposed to come down here and pick up tickets for the lottery for my mother-in-law and instead we took the money and went to the casino on Saturday," Makeba lamented. He told WHAS11's Joe Arnold that his mother-in-law had a "feeling" about the Powerball purchase.

"I'm dying inside," he continued

 

Not sure why he's kicking himself, obviously he wouldn't have been the winner...

...well he could have been the winner if the winning ticket numer hadn't been bought already...or 2 tickets with the same number could have been sold.........extremely long shot but still possible.

robmang

"The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are estimated at 195 million to one.

But when your convenience store sells the winning ticket, it suddenly doesn't seem quite as impossible."

Funny...I remember I used to work in Naples and went to the racetrac station across the street. I used to buy all my tickets there because they seemed to be the only people who didnt screw up the tickets printing them out..never won anything. I switched work locations and it couldn't have been more than a couple weeks to a month later that some other guy won from a ticket at that very same station at $24 million, which for the FL lotto is a pretty large jackpot. After this most recent powerball jackpot (which recently came to Florida) I decided I'm gonna stop playing for a while, good luck just hasnt seem to come around yet :P

Not trying to sound bitter or anything but I really wouldn't have minded being the winner after going to that station so many times. Oh well

bytheshore

...spent his entire time there kicking himself for not following through on a promise he made on Saturday to buy Powerball tickets.

"I was supposed to come down here and pick up tickets for the lottery for my mother-in-law and instead we took the money and went to the casino on Saturday," Makeba lamented.


If that was his mother-in-law's money he spent at the casino instead of on PB tickets, I hope she actually kicked him.

KY Floyd's avatarKY Floyd

"The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are estimated at 195 million to one."

It sure is a shame that there's no way  to actually calculate the odds accurately, eh?

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by KY Floyd on Jan 21, 2009

"The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are estimated at 195 million to one."

It sure is a shame that there's no way  to actually calculate the odds accurately, eh?

The odds of winning the PowerBall game are calculated the same way there are for any other lottery game.

  MATCH     ODDS
  5/5+B   1 : 195249054
  5/5+0   1 : 5138133
  4/5+B   1 : 723145
  4/5+0   1 : 19030
  3/5+B   1 : 13644
  3/5+0   1 : 359
  2/5+B   1 : 787
  1/5+B   1 : 123
  0/5+B   1 : 62
 ___________________________
 overall odds are 1 : 35.1

Stew12's avatarStew12

I think KY Floyd was being sarcastic  Big Grin

mayan27's avatarmayan27

r u kidding me Texas Joey??

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